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This paper will review the different existing literature on studies of international relations in Latin America, specifically in Colombia will be reviewed. As a subject little explored by the scholars, this effort is a great contribution to the development of future research to account for the development of the discipline of international relations. Also, through this historic journey will be known about the background that led to the emergence and evolution of international studies in the region, finding that there are few studies that from the sociology of science have approached the international field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it has become trite to comment on the forces of global change, globalization is not simply about economy, technology or culture. When Appadurai defines globalization as a "tension between cultural homogenization and cultural heterogenizatton," we can easily supplant "cultural" for "linguistic." Today, English is increasingly established as a global lingua franca, and non- native English speakers such as Koreans are preoccupied with the English learning fever. The main claim of the paper is that the English fever should be seen neither as blind desire towards the glorious commodity of English nor as cheerful appropriation that nativizes the language of the Other. Instead, it is a phenomenon that is firmly grounded in local sociopolitical contexts, yet extends the global hegemony of English onto Korean society. Relevant to our account is the framework of postcolonialism. This paper shall examine the English fever in Korea as well as revisit the hegemony of English in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a brief response to the replies by Vicky Singleton and Brian Wynne. The author will base what he has to say on the original papers and his response to them, take account of the replies by Singleton and Wynne, and summarizes his main conclusions from the exchange. The two replies to the author's original response to the Special Issue of Social Studies of Science on "The Politics of SSK" carry on the debate in rather different ways. Hence, the author discusses them separately in this paper.

This article presents a reply to Hans Radder's response to the author's paper. Radder has carefully identified several points which invite clarification and elaboration. It is noted that Radder clearly situates the author as recommending that science and technology studies (STS) accounts should stick to descriptive analyses. Radder acknowledges that neutrality is an illusion and that taking sides can be politically and theoretically problematic, as well as being too narrow an approach for STS. The author's paper suggests that issues surrounding neutrality versus commitment and issues surrounding descriptive versus normative approaches are inextricably linked. However, Radder is able to separate these issues, as his stated aim is to deal only with the descriptive/normative issue which is for him, the neutrality/commitment issue had been dealt with adequately in this Special Issue.

Determining the treatment of workers rights in the globalized economy is a conflictive process. This paper seeks to analyze this confluence of forces. After first describing the ILO's machinery for standard-setting and monitoring, and the operation of the workers' rights aspects of U.S. trade and investment laws. In both the global North and the global South, multinational corporations, local business enterprises, labor movements and human rights NGOs reflect differing values and varying interests in regard to workers' rights. Viewpoints and policies also vary among international organizations such as the international Labour Organization (lLO), the Word Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank. In these social conflicts the International Labour Organization has proved a valuable means for conflict management. The ILO's international labor standards provide the terms of reference for discussions among the various contentious participants.

Over the past decade, the English School of International Relations (IR) has made a remarkable resurgence. Countless articles and papers have been written on the School. Some of these works have been critical, but most have applauded the School's efforts to provide a fruitful ‘middle way’ for IR theory, one that avoids the extremes of either an unnecessarily pessimistic realism or a naively optimistic idealism. At the heart of this via media is the idea that, in many periods of history, states exist within an international society of shared rules and norms that conditions their behaviour in ways that could not be predicted by looking at material power structures alone. I f the English School (ES) is correct that states often follow these rules and norms even when their power positions and security interests dictate alternative policies, then American realist theory – a theory that focuses on power and security drives as primary causal forces in global politics – has been dealt a potentially serious blow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of neutrality versus commitment within the sociology of scientific knowledge was the direct cause of the Special Issue of the journal "Social Studies of Science." The set of papers as a whole embraces many aspects of the theme under discussion. In this brief Response, the author will focus on two central questions. The first is whether science and technology studies (STS) accounts should stick to descriptive analyses of the politics of science and technology, or whether they should also engage in normative criticisms, assessments or recommendations. It is concluded that a certain type of STS normativity is legitimate, and may constitute a specific contribution to political debates on science and technology. The second question concerns the realism-relativism issue. It is argued that this issue continues to integrate descriptively adequate and normatively engaged accounts of science and technology.